Grain-car-door latch



Feb. 2 1926.

P. M. BOZICH GRAIN GAR Doon LATCH Filed July 17, 192;

2 Sheets-fShegt 1 Feb. 2 ,1926. A 1,571,444

P. M. BozxcH y GRAIN GAR BOOR LATCH Filed July 17, 1923 2 sheets-snm z Patented Feb. 2, 1926.

UNITED STATS artnr OFFICE..

BETER M. BOZ'ICH, OF SPOKANE, VASHINGTON.

GRAIN-CAROORL LATCH.

Application filed July 17, 1,923.

To zZZ whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, PETER M. Boziori, a citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in Spokane County and State of lasliington, have invented certain new and y railways in the transportation of grain and similar material. The invention as herein physically embodied contemplates certain improvements in the type of lsliding double doors which are alined and abut at the inner adjoining edges and are supported and guided from above and below for movement along the outer side of the car wall. Novel means are provided for latching and securing` the abutting edges of the double doors and means are also afforded for preventing excessive movement in closing of the door members as well as for retaining each door section in open position to prevent undesirable movement of the sections when the car is in transit.

By the utilization oit' my invention a door is provided which may be manipulated with facility and convenience, and which when closed insures an effectual seal against loss of the cargo by leakage.

The invention consists in certain novel combinations andv arrangements of parts as will hereinafter be more fully described and claimed.. In the accompanying drawingsl I have illustrated one complete example of the physical embodiment of my invention -wherein the parts are combined and arranged according to the-best mode I have thus far devised for the practical application of the principles of my invention.

Figure l is a View in side elevation of so much of a railway car as is necessary to illustrate the application of my invention to the double door thereof, the latter being shown in closed and latched position and which may be sealed in usual manner for transportation.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken longitudinally through one wall of the car, and its double door, as at line 2-2 of Fig. 1. l

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing a portion oi one of the double doors and a latch device thereon for co-operation withl a complementary door section.

Serial No.` 652,028.

Figure 4 is anenlarged perspective View of a portion of the lower guide rail for the sliding doors. i y

Figure 5 is a View in perspective showing an inverted portion of the upper guide rail .tor the sliding doors. i

Figure G is a transverse sectional detail view of the bottom rail illustrating the yrelation of thedoors and supporting rollers.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view in side elevation depicting the interiorly arran 'ed trap door or plate which closes the iil'lingopening or port of one of the grain door sections. n ,y y.

Figure 8 is an enlarged perspective view of a door stop, one of which is employed 'tor each door section or panel to prevent excessive closing movement of the panels as well as for the purpose of retaining the sections in open position. y

The invention as herein embodied is adapted for use with standard types of box cars or closed cars one ci? which is designated by the numeral 1 and provided with the usual floor or deck 2. At the exterior oi the car wall are arranged pairs of door posts 3' and 3. which are reinforced by the. diagonally extending braces t and tl These door posts 3 and 3 arey located at the opposite sides of the doorway 5 andv the members of each pair ofv posts'as well as the members of each brace t and Zt are spaced' apart in order that the sections 6' and 7 of the double door may slide therethrough, longitudinally of the car. The door sections are of' such width that when the doorway is closed, as seen in Fig. l, the outer edges of the door sections protrude beyond the posts, and when the door sections are pushed back to open positionI they are entirely embraced by the diagonal braces, thus retaining the sections in close proximity at all times, to the car wall, and preventing possibility of swinging or flapping outwardly.

In the construction of the door Asections or panels I preferably employ a sheet meta-1, exterior covering 8y for' the sections each oiI which is provided' with an inturned' ii'ange 9 and 9" at its vertical edges as best seen in Figure 3. A veneer or lining of wood is lfixed at the inner side off the door sections, as indicated at 10 to insure a sanitary surface for the grain or other material carried in. the car. f i

Vifith, the door sections or panels closed as indicated in Figurel the car may be loaded through the filling port 11 in the section 7, and then said port is closed by the trap door or circular, metal plate 12, located at the inner side of the door panel and pivoted as at 13 in the door to swing laterally. l/Vhen the plate is in closed position it is retained by the engagement of a pin 14 carried by the plate with a notch 15 in the wall of the port-opening, and when swung to open position 4this pin is adapted to engage a complementary notch 16 at the opposite side of the port wall, to hold the plate inaccessible position for closing after the car has been loaded.

The door panels are adapted to slide longitudinally of the car and move in the same vertical plane in order that their adj oining edges may abut when the panels are closed. The lower guide rail 17 for the doors is made up of a metal plate properly secured at the exterior of thecar wall and at the floor or deck level thereof. At regular spaced intervals throughout the length of therail are provided transversely arranged and spaced pairs of lugs 18, which project upwardly from the rail and between which the door panels are adapted to slide. Antifriction rollers 19 are located at suit-able intervals along the railand journaled in perforated ears 20 which depend from the rail, and as will be apparent the lower metallic edges of the door panels are adapted to be supported on and glide over these rollers as they pass between the spaced guide lugs 18. Itv will be obvious that by utilizing the spaced pairs of lugs 18 and providing slots as 18 in the rail the movement of the door panels will be effective in clearing and keeping cleared the trackway for the doors, thus preventing accumulation of dust or grain or other undesirable material that would obstruct or retard the movement of the door panels.

At'their upper edges the door panels are retained and guided by the guide rail 21 which is fashioned with depending pairs of spaced lugs 22. The rail is attached in suitable manner along the exterior of the car wall above the doorway and the door panels slide between the lugs of these spaced pairs of lugs.

A plurality of devices are indicated at- A in Fig. 1 for latching the door panels at their abutting edges when the door is closed, there being three latching devices of similar construction. These intermediate, and upper and lower devices each comprises a pair of hooks as.23 and 24 pivoted on a common center or pin 25 which is arranged transversely of one of the panels as 7 adjacent to its inner edge and the hooks are rigidly joined by a pin 26. At the inner side of the outer .metal plate 8 the wood filling 10 is cut away or omitted, and the metal plate is slotted or cut out as at 27 in Fig. 3 in order for that the rigidly spaced pair of hooks 23 and 24 may have their pivot ends slipped over the metal plate, the hook 23 being outside the metal plate Vand the hook 24 located inside the plate, and the pin 25 is passed through registering perforations in the two hooks and the plate to aiford a pivot center the hooks. An arcuate slot 28 is fashioned in the metal plate 8 to accom modate the joint pin 26 when the hooks are swung to released position.

The abutting edge of the panel G is fashioned with a. keeper socket 28 for the reception of the hook 24, and a keeper pin 28a is fixed transversely of this plate and socket, the exposed end of the pin for coaction with the hook 23 and the portion of the portion of the pin within the keeper socket being adapted for co-action with the hook 24.

Thus it will be apparent that with the several latches or devices A in the position of Fig. 3, when the door panels are brought together the pairs of hooks 23 24 will slip l over the keeper 28, the hooks 23 passing along the exterior face of the plate 8 of door 6 and the hooks 24 slipping into their keeper sockets 28 in the inner edge of the door G. By means of a latch retaining spring 29 the hooks are then forced down over the pins 28a. One of these springs is provided for each device A and comprises a flat resilient metal plate pivoted at 30 to the door panel 7 in position to engage and bear down upon the upper edge of the exterior hook 23.v The free end 31 of the spring plate is turned outwardly as indicated to provide a linger piece for releasing the retaining latch and the latch hooks when i t-he door panels are to be slid open. By proper frictional engagement and resilient action the spring latch or detent 29 holds the rigid pair of hooks in latched position with relation to the keeper pin 28a.

To limit the closing movement of the two panels and insure that their abutting or meeting edges shall meet at the center of the doorway I utilize for each door one of a pair of complementary pawls 32 as best illustrated in Fig. 8. These pawls are each pivoted at 33 in perforated ears 34 of an attaching plate 35 and the plate is secured as indicated in Fig. 1 at the side of the door posts 3 and 3 remote from the doorway. The pawls are pivoted to swing in a horizontal plane and are urged inwardly toward the car by means of a flat or leaf spring 36 attachedpto plate 35. door is provided with a pair of spaced recessed keeper-plates 37 and 38, the former `near the outer edge and the latter near the inner edge of the door, as indicated in Figure 1. Thus with the door panels closed the Y pawls 32 are in engagement with the respective keepers 37. When the doors are slid Each panel of theA open to theii` extended positions the pavvls, which are spring pressed, Will engage the respective keepers 38 of the panels 6 and 7 and aiord means for preventing accidental closing movement of the opened 'door panels.

As thus arranged in alinement the door panels occupy a minimum amount of space and atord an effective seal, when closed, against escape of the grain from the cars. By the utilization of a plurality of the latching devices A. the abutting edges of the door panels are securely maintained in Jfrictional engagement from top to bottom of the panels and the panels are rigidly held together. The spaced sectional door posts and similarly constructed diagonal braces, together with the upper and lower guide rails, hold the door panels, in all positions, against lateral movement, and the spaced hooks 23 and 24 by their engagement With the slotted edge of the panel 6 maintain the otherwise free abuttingedges of the panels with Hush surfaces.

-i Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is iln a latch for sliding doors, the combination with a keeper-socket and a transversely extending pin, of a pivoted latch comprising a pair of rigidly spaced hooks adapted to cc-act with said pin and socket, and a spring detent for retaining said hooks in engaged position.

In testimony whereof I aliix in v signature.

PETER M. BOZICH. 

